Queen Latifah is one of those rare pop celebrities that doesn’t fuel her success by putting her personal life in the spotlight.  She’s always let her music take the stage. 

Here’s what’s being said about her new disc Trav’lin’ Light.

Amazon.com
With Trav’lin’ Light, singer/actress/rapper/Cover Girl Queen Latifah (née Dana Owens) continues her chameleonic pan-stardom. The latest musical chapter in Latifah’s success-studded career began with 2004’s The Dana Owens Album, on which she emerged as a nuanced crooner of jazz and R&B standards. She continues this mode on her Verve records debut, adding ample individuality to such well-loved classics as Johnny Mercer’s title track, Nina Simone’s “I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl,” and Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars” (with legendary harmonica pioneer Toots Thielemans). Steve Wonder’s own harmonica playing lends nostalgic ornament to an otherwise rather forced “Georgia Rose,” and much of the album languishes in similarly downbeat fare, though Latifah’s voice is never wholly unbecoming of her song choices. Toward the album’s end comes a welcome swerve for the energetic. Inspiring takes on the Pointer Sisters’ “How Long” and Curtis Mayfield’s “Gone Away” lead into the soaring choruses of “I Know Where I’ve Been.” Taken together, these three songs superbly straddle the spectrum from the former rapper to the still-newly minted singer with a long lease on success and a peerless sense of how to grow older gracefully. –Jason Kirk

The Boston Phoenix

Queen Latifah is never going to be Billie Holiday or even Macy Gray, but 2004’s surprise hit, The Dana Owens Album, proved she had a set of pipes. Trav’lin Light, her second set of standards and first recording for Verve, vindicates the rapper-turned-actress-turned-diva from any lingering charges of crossover pandering; she’s obviously as serious about this as any of her other pursuits. Abetted by a small army of producers and support players, Latifah croons her way through tunes by Antonio Carlos Jobim, Nina Simone, Peggy Lee, and the Pointer Sisters respectfully, enthusiastically, and competently, albeit not particularly distinctively. Stevie Wonder’s harmonica on “Georgia Rose” is so immediately identifiable that it threatens to steal the vocalist’s thunder, and Latifah’s foray into Motown territory, Smokey Robinson’s “What Love Has Joined Together,” would have been a buried Tammi Terrell B-side had Latifah been working for Berry Gordy. But her blues is formidable on Simone’s “I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl,” she swings like crazy on the Sarah Vaughan vehicle “I’m Gonna Live Till I Die,” and the über-production of the Impressions’ “Gone Away” justifies the Queen-sized vocal Latifah brings to it.

Congratulations to our “Dysfunctional Holiday Story” contest winner Deborah Barrett! Our E-Update Subscribers were asked to submit their favorite dysfunctional holiday story in anticipation of our presentation of “Second City’s Dysfunctional Holiday Revue” Dec. 14. Deborah won a $25 gift card to the Alys Stephens Center. Here’s the winning story…

Once upon a time several years ago, my family insisted on a buying a lovely Fraser Fir tree which was just too large and majestic.

After dear husband sawed on its trunk he decided it would do. We drug it up the steps and through the door and jammed it in its stand in the place of honor. Then he carefully strung the lights but decided it just wasn’t straight enough, was still too tall, and didn’t look good. To make it sufficiently straight and a bit less statuesque, he decided it needed a different stand which he brought down from the attic.

Unfortunately we didn’t think the tree would well survive being pulled back outside through the door, since now the limbs had dropped appropriately to accommodate the lights. So we gently put it down on its side in the family room, lights and all, and attempted to exchange the stand. Alas, the trunk would not fit in the new stand, and thus required more sawing. By now his saw had about given out and so had he, but he would not be denied. With difficulty and after much ado, he fired up the chain saw right in the family room. This finally did the trick; however not only did we have wood chips flying all over and engine exhaust in the air, but oil leaked out of the saw in the process as well.

The tree was finally raised again and the decorations were completed, but at the time he swore he would not be getting another live tree. Fortunately, that proved not to be the case in subsequent, less traumatic years.

Hope you got a chuckle out of this story that’s too ridiculous not to be true…

Deborah Barrett

We ran a contest last week for our E-newsletter subscribers encouraging them to submit a story about their “My Most Memorable Live Performance.” We were flooded with great entries, but could only choose one. Congratulations to our contest winner Joey T for submitting the winning entry! He won a pair of tickets to see Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt live in concert at the ASC. They will perform together here on October 10 and 11. Here’s the winning story…

Flaming Lips
12/31/2007
Oklahoma City, OK

 My brother Matt and his best friend Andy were going to join me in the car ride to OK. There we were to meet my friend Greg, in OKC on business, and Bryce, who had moved to Arkansas. The five of us were going to bring in the New Year with the Flaming Lips.

Our ticket situation was a big problem for us. Well, for one of us. 4 of us had the general admission floor seats. Which were sold out. Bryce did not, he had a nosebleed seat. We were sitting bored in our hotel room Monday morning, so we decided to go be bored in the line at the arena. Not surprisingly at 10 AM, we were first in line. Bryce was in line without a ticket, hoping he could buy one from a scalper. A roadie looking fella walked by and Bryce pounced. He was just going to ask if any more floor tickets would be sold, but came away with one better. He hustled back and said the roadie would take care of us. We didn’t know what that meant, but assumed it would be awesome. (Dude.) I was skeptical, I thought the roadie was just trying to blow off Bryce. But about two hours later, the roadie comes back to our spot in line. (Now about 25 people long) We were being put on balloon duty.

The Flaming Lips, being the showmen they are, wanted to drop 2008 balloons that night. These were not normal balloons, but giant, 3 feet in diameter, rubber ones that were inflated by a bottle top taped to a leaf blower. They probably had 600 already inflated; we were in charge of getting to 2008. Bryce would be rewarded with an all access backstage pass when we were done.

Three of us worked on balloon duty, while two kept our spot in line. Blisters showed up on my fingers after several hundred balloon tying exercises. We were able to witness the entire sound check, previewing the madness that was ahead.

The roadie came up and said we had done enough and sent us back to line. Bryce had his VIP pass that would grant him access to anywhere in the building. Two of us ended up being invited on stage to dance in giant inflatable costumes. I have never been to a concert where the audience felt like such a part of the show. From our balloon inflating to my friends in costume on stage to the hundreds of laser pointers thrown into the crowd for a self made laser light show to the crowd sing along to Auld Lang Syne it was an intense participatory adventure. Bringing in 2008 with the Flaming Lips was my most memorable concert experience. We were roadies for the day and participated in making their show more memorable for the thousands of others in attendance.